i've painted in different mediums and i find that oil paints are the most difficult to manipulate and time-consuming to work with. that is why i have so much admiration and appreciation for her art. most of her work draw you in with its dark, mysterious beauty, and its intricate detail. i was so devastated when some of her work was stolen at a couple of shows in 2008. luckily, they caught the thief, but two drawings are still missing... here's is one of them (please contact her, if you have any information):

"the awaiting"

lori really wanted to answer the questionnaire for my artist feature, but she is so busy working on new projects. when i contacted her, she replied almost instantly, and even took the time out of her hectic schedule to view my blog. although she is unable to answer my interview questions, i'm so honored that she took the time to recognize her fans and share her wonderful art with us.

"one"

lori earley grew up in rye, new york, and lived there until she was 19. she studied at the school of visual arts in new york city to nurture her talent. the materials she uses for her work are oil paints, wood panels, ultra-smooth linen, graphite, and bristol board paper.

"leila"

she started showcasing her work back in 2004. she got her first publication from juxtapose magazine (they put "the hunter" on the cover), and her first solo show was at roq la rue gallery in seattle.

"the hunter"

she spends a lot of time working on her paintings. each of her paintings could take anywhere from 1 to 6 months before it is finished, and she paints for about 14 hours a day! the time and dedication she devotes to her work make her the artist that she is. it is no surprise that she receives tremendous accolades for her mastery in oil painting.

"the pinnacle"

here are the steps she takes to produce a final painting:

an idea

a sketch of the composition

choosing a model

finding a costume and proper lighting for the mood of the painting

a photo shoot, shot by herself

a final line drawing from the photo

transfering the drawing onto the board

making 5 to 6 under-paintings

building up the paints from dark to light

painting the frame with color accents to match each painting

"belladonna"

she prefers not to explain what each painting means, and wants each viewer to interpret it in their own way. she uses symbolism and clues to express herself in her work. she also mentions, that the "distortions in her painitngs comes from her innate desire to transform her emotions to tangiable planes that express what she feels, not what she sees."

"the cocktail hour"

lori early is influenced by artists, music, movies, books, and fashion. "the wish" is one of her favorite paintings - it has over 1000 dandelions on it! she also likes "drained" and "ms. v".

"the wish"

"drained"

"ms. v"

she advises any aspiring artist to be dedicated and practice a great deal of self-discipline to succeed in this industry. she also says that any job has its downsides, but the sense of fulfillment in doing what you love - is the upside of being an artist!

i hope you enjoyed lori earley's art! i visit her website daily, so that i could be inspired, maybe you should too!

a quick note for all the readers of this post:

i would like to ask you to respect the artist who created these wonderful pieces. please contact lori earley for permission, if you wish to re-post any images on your blog or any photo sharing websites. each image is copywritten and watermarked to avoid any illegal distribution or reproductions.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

last year, my brother and sister-in-law, rudy and jazz, asked me to help make their 10th wedding anniversary invitation. we saw one online for roughly $6-10 each... so i made up some templates for them, i think i ended up making at least 7 and showed 3 to them... each layer of cardstock was measured individually to complement the whole... this is what i ended up making for them, inspired by the invitation we found online:

this would've been the original look they were looking for, unfortunately, the store ran out of the patterned paper. so i helped jazz with the paper choices and this is the final result... isn't it pretty? it actually turned out better than the first one!

just wanted to share one of the custom cards i love to make from time to time. this card was made for a very special baptism. i used products from dymo, sassafras lass, paperbilities (at walmart), making memories, the "dollar" store (yes, there's a tonne of stuff there!), and DCWV embossed cards.

Friday, March 26, 2010

i noticed my son, dom, was so quiet. realizing that he could be up to no good, i checked on him... he found my black permanent marker and decided to apply it to his lips, just like "lip balm". luckily he missed his lips (and didn't ingest the ink)... though, the ink ended up here...

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

i went to pick up a car seat we needed at a department store this weekend. as i was waiting for my item, this person asked if i needed any help with carrying my box... although i refused and carried the box to my car, it really made me happy that this person, sincerely just wanted to help without expecting anything back (and without seeing the size of the box i was about to haul out). don't you just love random acts of kindness???

Monday, March 22, 2010

i am so lucky to be surrounded by very talented friends, and i am very proud of every single one of them. one of these friends, is rice babies!

i first fell in love with this pirate girl she had at her etsy shop. isn't she a cutie?

after she sold the pirate girl, i was sooo sad i didn't snatch it up in the first place...

i also discovered how much care and detail is involved in making them. i certainly have a new-found appreciation for this art form.

i really wanted one of rice babies' dolls in my collection. so, she created this wonderful "boy" doll just for my lil' guy, dominic. secretly, of course, it is really for me - i guess the secret's out!

i love this embroidery...

rice babies also makes the cutest felt crowns:

don't forget to stop by rice babies etsy shop, because you don't want to miss out on all of her wonderful creations!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

i went across the border with two of my closest friends yesterday and hit most (not all) of our favorite spots... jo-ann's (a very recent favorite of mine - thank you, you know who you are!), trader joe's, and target!

i found the best thing in target, these adorable sock monkey slippers for $13! just browsing around, as usual, then i turned and guess what was on the rack? the last one and in my size!

it was, indeed, a great day for shopping... now, if they only made flats that looked like sock monkeys... anyone know where i can get one???

Saturday, March 20, 2010

a friend of ours, montana, burnt a hole in his jean$ (from a candle on a counter)... it was pretty amusing because, we were wondering how it happened in the first place. hmmm???

to make the long story short, alona (a friend of ours), decided to ask me to place a patch on the gaping hole in his jeans. the two conditions are: i have to use a very feminine fabric, and i have to embroider "i (heart) alona".

a task, i was certainly ready for... so after a few back and scallop stitches, the patch was done!

hope you love it montana! wear it with pride at the race track... LOL!